The recent development of Professional Standards Review Organizations suggest that providers of dental services will eventually be involved in a formal review system. Process measures of quality that depend on examination of patients may be of limited value because of high costs and inconvenience to patients. Perhaps a more realistic approach is the development of practice profiles based on quantitative indices of the process (e.g. utilization of specific services) and outcome (e.g. morbidity) of care. To some extent, these data can be collected from insurance claim forms. The purpose of this project is: 1) to develop profiles on 20 private dental practices based on information from insurance claim forms (200 per practice) and from patient records (200 per practice): 2) to directly assess by clinical examination the quality of care provided to 20 patients from each practice-a total of 400 patients; 3) to determine the validity of the profiles by comparing them to the direct assessments of care; and 4) to explore the feasibility of this review system for large scale use. The profile method has the potential of being an important factor in improving the quality of dental care in this country.